It has come to my attention lately that the word “Scam” has been thrown around a little too frequently in our wonderful industry.
So I thought I would shed some light on the subject, and maybe open the eyes of those who are guilty of throwing around that word in their work towards business growth.
First off, what is the definition of “Scam”?
“To scam means to victimize: deprive of by deceit”
Or
“An attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain.”
All too often someone asks “Is this a scam?” or “That is nothing but a scam!”
These phrases are used too often when referring to the network marketing and MLM industry.
Although there are some things out there that truly are Scams, you need to be careful of how you use that word.
If you join a reputable NM company there is about a 100% chance that it is NOT a scam. But all too often when people join and then the money doesn’t happen to slap them in the face they think they have been scammed.
When in fact they just didn’t do what it takes to succeed. Work from home still contains work. Or maybe they were sponsored by their upline under false pretenses or with false promises. But that doesn’t mean that the company was a scam, it is just that you may have had the wrong sponsor or had false hopes.
Like I just said work from home still contains work. If you had the idea that working from home was easy then you are sadly mistaken. Don’t get me wrong, it can be fun and enjoyable, but it takes hard work and dedication to get where you want.
Just as an example, I used to work 60 hours a week when I had a job, but when I went full time from home, I ended up working more. I can come and go as I please but I work more because it still takes hard work. It is fun to be your own boss and it is really enjoyable. The only reason I work so hard is because I am not where I want to be yet. I have goals that I have not achieved yet, and I will stop at nothing to get there. I don't need to work that hard, but I love what I do and want to hit my goals.
The fact of the matter is that you can make a ton of money working from home but you need to work for it and stop at nothing to get there.
Sorry, I got off on a little tangent, back to scam.
Another example of people throwing around the “S” word is when they purchase a course that could help them get one step further to getting massive results and again the money doesn’t magically show up in their bank account they immediately judge the author of the course, and say that person is a scam artist. When in fact all they had to do was apply what was taught in that book to get some results. Very few actually use the information they read and apply it to get results.
The same goes for buying courses, there are some out there that may very well be scams and not worth the money, so what you need to do there is buy courses that are from a reputable source. Ask yourself these things… “Does the author get the results that I want?”, “Has the author, done what I need to do?”, “Have others used the material to achieve results?”
If you cover these questions you are sure for a hit. Most reputable authors don’t put out material strictly for financial gain, they actually want to help people, and chances are they have been there and done that, so you can cut your learning curve by leaps and bounds just by reading what they have to say. Financial gain is just a by product.
A Scam is only a scam if someone takes your money and you have NO chance at getting the results you need to get your money back and much more.
It is only a scam if you really think it is a scam and you don’t have what it takes to get results, or not willing to do what it takes to apply what you learn to get results, or someone just flat out took your money and you didn’t get anything in return.
So the next time you think something is a Scam, think twice about throwing around that word.
The only way to succeed in this industry is to educate yourself, learn from other people’s mistakes, apply what you learn, and work for it.
Just because you fail doesn’t mean you should quit or accuse someone else of being a scam artist or an opportunity of being a scam.
This industry is an industry that can be your tool to making a ton of money. But you need to learn how to do it right, educate yourself, learn from other people’s mistakes, and work for it.
I know I just said that, but it needs to be said again.
A doctor doesn’t become a doctor by walking into a hospital, handing over a check and say, “Ok, now I am a doctor, let’s just see how it goes!”
Same thing goes for home business and the NM industry. You can’t just eexpect to walk into a company, hand over a check and say, “Ok now I am business owner, let’s see how it goes.”
You need to educate yourself, learn from other people’s mistakes, and work for it.
If you do this you will succeed.
You will hit bumps in the road, you will fall on your face a couple times, but your success is on YOU and YOU alone.
So the next time you fall on your face or feel you have been scammed, step back and take a good look and see who really is to blame.
You can succeed if you work for it. So work for it and succeed.
Just a little thought for you today! ;)
Justin Christianson
